Congratulations to Rebecca Richardson, All Classical Radio’s Music Researcher & Digital Producer. She has been named a 2024 “Rising Star” by Current. The trade publication launched the honor to celebrate younger employees who are making a difference in public media. Rebecca was recognized for her work with All Classical Radio and the station’s children’s network, ICAN.
“Rebecca Richardson makes a difference for All Classical’s audience every day,” says Suzanne Nance, President and CEO of All Classical Radio, who nominated Rebecca for the honor along with her enthusiastic colleagues Riley Moore and Kristina Becker.
“Rebecca’s leadership and hard work have furthered All Classical Radio’s transformation into a comprehensive media arts network. Rebecca continues to build an incredible research database, spanning eras from Medieval to Modernism, and every composer she can find in between, which has deepened the information available to our on-air hosts and in-turn our audiences. She helped lead the creation of All Classical Radio’s Artist Anthology: 40 Creatives of the Pacific Northwest, a groundbreaking multimedia initiative to uplift artists. In addition, her blog posts and articles about classical music on All Classical’s website spark curiosity and enthusiasm for the artform. She’s dedicated, generous, and creative, and we are so lucky to have her on our team,” Nance adds.
Music has been a fundamental part of Rebecca Richardson’s life since her earliest memories. From a childhood spent in choirs, piano lessons, and musical theater productions to earning an Master of Music degree in voice performance, she has been guided by the call of classical music. A SoCal native currently settled in SE Portland, she spent nearly a decade writing and performing on the East Coast. She got her first taste of music research while working as a Music History T.A. in grad school, and ever since, has been obsessed with humanizing the names behind the music we all love so much.
When she’s not stooped over her desk, gleefully going down rabbit holes, you can find her on long, scenic walks with her husband and daughter, savoring a glass of Pacific Northwest wine, or immersed in a sturdy historical biography.
Current is a nonprofit news organization covering public media in the U.S for professionals in the industry. Leaders and staff at NPR, PBS, CPB, public radio and TV stations, independent producers, board members, and national policymakers rely on Current for information, inspiration and insights into this mission-driven field.
Current was founded in 1980 by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, the historic forerunner of both PBS and NPR. For several decades, Current was managed financially by WNET, a leading national producer and PBS station that serves the New York City region.
John Pitman, All Classical’s Program Director, recently caught up with Hollywood actor and classical musician John Malkovich. Hear their hilarious chat about Malkovich’s The Music Critic, released last year from a recording made in 2020.
Malkovich shares what went into this funny and fascinating recording, based on the live show, where the actor reads actual (and unbelievably negative) contemporary reviews of Dvořák, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and other 20th century composers.
John (Pitman) had a blast talking with one of his favorite actors about the process, and their shared love of classical music. He hopes you enjoy it just as much!
In May 2024, pianist Christopher O’Riley was in Portland for a concert with his good friend, cellist Matt Haimovitz. All Classical Radio’s Program Director, John Pitman, invited Christopher for an interview in the Roger O. Doyle Performance Studio, the day before their concert.
Christopher shared his knowledge, talent, and insight about Bach and the upcoming album, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. He performed two of the preludes and fugues in the studio, and – through interjected examples during their conversation – revealed hidden dialogues within Bach’s work. It was a very illuminating conversation, with powerful music by, arguably, one of music’s greatest composers.
Hear John Pitman’s conversation with Christopher O’Riley, as well as some highlights from his upcoming album:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Pride Month is observed each year in commemoration of the June 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Nationally, Pride Month is observed in June. Locally, the city of Portland celebrates its queer community in July.
In honor of Pride Month, All Classical is shining a spotlight on musicians from the LGBTQI+ community who bring so much beauty and joy to listeners around the world. Join us in celebrating the musical contributions of five extraordinary contemporary LGBTQI+ artists who we love to play on air all year round.
Photo by Andrew Bogard; courtesy of Higdon’s website
JENNIFER HIGDON
Jennifer Higdon, a Pulitzer Prize and three-time GRAMMY award-winning composer and flutist, has proven herself a major figure in contemporary classical music time and time again. Higdon’s exquisite music encompasses a wide range of genres, from large-scale pieces for orchestra and stage to intimate songs for voice and piano. Among her many accolades, Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016 (the first American opera to do so), and her GRAMMY award-winning recording of Percussion Concerto was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2019.
Interestingly, Higdon had a relatively late start to music. At age 15, she taught herself to play flute, and she began formal studies in composition at 21. Nonetheless, Higdon’s path to a career in music has led her to become one of the most influential musical voices of our time. Her music is both distinct and accessible and has been praised as being “imbued with integrity and freshness.”
Together with her wife, Cheryl Lawson, the couple established their own publishing company, Lawdon Publishing (a fun combination of the couple’s last names), through which Higdon publishes all of her musical works. Fun fact – revered conductor Marin Alsop officiated the couple’s marriage in 2014.
Photo courtesy of Chee’s website
CONNOR CHEE
Navajo pianist and composer Connor Chee is best known for combining his Western classical training with his Native American heritage. Making his Carnegie Hall debut at just 12 years old after winning the World Piano Competition, Chee is no stranger to the music world. Exposed to traditional Navajo music from a young age, Chee’s classical piano training proved to be a perfect companion for fulfilling the musician’s artistic spirit while also serving as a vehicle to preserve the beloved music of his ancestry.
Chee primarily writes for the piano and incorporates traditional Navajo chants and songs, in addition to piano transcriptions of Navajo music. In fact, writing down music that had previously been exclusively communicated orally was what drew Chee to composition in the first place. Currently based in Phoenix, Chee continues to perform throughout the United States. Several of his studio albums have earned accolades, including Best Instrumental Recording at the 16th Annual Native American Music Awards for The Navajo Piano.
Photo by Jason Quigley
CAROLINE SHAW
Violinist, vocalist, and composer Caroline Shaw is well known to All Classical audiences, as well as countless listeners around the world. The youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music (she was 30 at the time), as well as the winner of several GRAMMY awards, Shaw has led an impressively prolific career—one that will undoubtedly continue to add meaningful works to the world’s musical vernacular. Her artistic collaborations include classical heavyweights such as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, and Davóne Tines, as well as Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía, French music video director Woodkid, and the American rapper Nas, not to mention a long list of films, video games, podcasts, ballets, and more.
Shaw’s music doesn’t adhere to strict genre guidelines but rather crosses over in unexpected ways, both in musical style and artistic collaboration. If you looked up the word “visionary” in the dictionary, Caroline Shaw’s name would come up. According to her official bio, through her music, Shaw is “trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed.”
In addition to Shaw’s extraordinary work as a composer, together with her partner Danni Lee, the couple created the band Ringdown, which they describe as “the love child of Johannes Brahms and Brandi Carlile—if they were born in the same century and if Brahms was a queer woman.”
New York-based composer Nico Muhly is at the forefront of American classical music. Best known for his acclaimed operas, including Two Boys and Marnie (both commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera), Muhly is an incredibly sought-after musical voice. In addition to The Met, Muhly has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, LA Phil, Tallis Scholars, and St. John’s College, Cambridge, among others. Muhly’s musical influences range from American minimalism to the Anglican choral tradition. In addition to writing works for the stage and concert hall, Muhly frequently collaborates with choreographer Benjamin Millepied. Adding to his extensive list of projects, Muhly has also scored several films and TV shows, including the Academy Award-winning The Reader, and the BBC mini-series Howards End.
Muhly is not afraid to address queer subject matter in his music, as seen in the opera, Two Boys, inspired by a true case involving a toxic teenage relationship and its tragic repercussions, and the oratorio Sentences, based on the life of Alan Turing. Rather, he leans into his commitment to spotlighting voices that have been historically underrepresented in classical music.
Photo by Frankie Tresser
JIMMIE HERROD
Powerhouse vocalist and songwriter Jimmie Herrod exploded onto the musical scene as a finalist on “America’s Got Talent,” and the world has been smitten ever since. Herrod has been a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras nationwide, including Oregon, San Francisco, and Houston. Perhaps most notably, Herrod was a soloist for the globally televised PBS “Joni Mitchell Songbook” concert at The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, where he shared the stage with Renée Fleming, Lalah Hathaway, Raul Midón, and Aoife O’Donovan.
As a musician, Herrod’s musical style traverses many genres, including jazz, pop, and funk. A longtime resident of Portland, Herrod regularly tours with Pink Martini as a featured vocalist in addition to headlining his own shows. Praised for “a voice like a beacon of hope,” Herrod has a gift for piercing the hearts of his listeners and is changing today’s musical soundscape for the better.
On Elevate, the brand new album from All Classical Radio’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative, you won’t find any Bach concertos or quirky new takes on Beethoven’s symphonies. Instead, you’ll find recordings by Japanese-born composer Yuko Uébayashi and Black American composer Damien Geter, as well as a sonata by Nobu Kōda, a long under-heralded female composer who, in the late 1800s, created some of the first works ever written by a Japanese composer in the Western style.
These pieces are emblematic of RII’s mission, which is to address issues of diversity in the classical world by producing and distributing high-quality recordings of music by composers from historically marginalized communities. Launched (and given Current’s Local that Works award) in 2021, the project has released two records in the past three years, including Elevate, and has another on the docket for fall 2025. The 30-plus tracks on those records are also free and available to download via an RII database, accessed by about 20 stations so far.
In April, the Danish String Quartet performed the world premiere of a new work written for them by English composer Thomas Adès at Carnegie Hall.
For this edition of John Pitman’s Reviews, John has invited All Classical Radio host Warren Black to speak with the Quartet about the premiere and get a preview of their upcoming new album, Keel Road. The album features arrangements of folk music and more.
Hear Violinist Frederik Øland and violist Asbjørn Nørgaard tell Warren Black about some of the music on their new album, coming soon in the summer of 2024.
In May, All Classical Radio’s Christa Wessel hosted a special program performed by acclaimed vocalist Jimmie Herrod and celebrated pianist and composer Cédric Hanriot. A New Foray Into Fauré featured exclusive performances of works by Gabriel Fauré, as well as music by the “Dean of American Balladeers” John Jacob Niles, and composer Ned Rorem, in new arrangements by Herrod and Hanriot.
Before each piece, hear Herrod and Hanriot discuss the music and their creative process, as well as some insight into the original composers. This is a unique opportunity to experience the talents of these two extraordinary artists in an intimate setting.
JUST JIMMIE
The same week, Herrod was featured as the 28th creative profiled in All Classical Radio’s Artist Anthology, spotlighting 40 contemporary artists of the Pacific Northwest in honor of the station’s 40th anniversary. The spotlight takes viewers behind the scenes of Herrod’s artistry and career through an exclusive interview and photos.
On May 29, 2024, at 5:00 PM PT, Herrod was interviewed by aspiring young musician Jayden on ICAN BECOME. The International Children’s Arts Network program pairs youth hosts with their career heroes.
With “a voice like a beacon of hope” (Seattle Times), vocalist Jimmie Herrod brings singular power and expressivity to his globe-trotting career as a singer, songwriter, and entertainer on stage and screen. Herrod first came to worldwide prominence as a finalist on the NBC nationally broadcast television show, “America’s Got Talent,” earning the rare “Golden Buzzer” recognition from actress Sofia Vergara, and returning the following year on the “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars” series.
As a solo artist, Herrod has appeared to critical and audience acclaim with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Houston, and Oregon. Herrod was a soloist for the globally televised PBS “Joni Mitchell Songbook” concert at The Kennedy Center with the NSO, where he shared the stage with musical luminaries like Renée Fleming, Lalah Hathaway, Raul Midón, and Aoife O’Donovan.
Cédric Hanriot is a pianist, composer, arranger, sound designer, and music producer. Winner of prestigious scholarships and international awards, he is known worldwide for his collaborations with Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Robert Glasper, Donny McCaslin, and other big names in the jazz world.
Cédric Hanriot served as pianist and sound designer on Dianne Reeves’s album “Beautiful Life,” which won the Grammy Awardfor Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2015.
In 2022, Cédric Hanriot released his last album, “Time is Color”, under his label Morphosis Arts, created in 2019. “Time is Color” is a singular work, a powerful mixture of jazz, hip-hop, and urban music– an album that resembles himself. The album has been the subject of several glowing reviews (Le Monde, Blues and Soul Magazine, The Jazz Shows with Jamie Cullum, among others). The album was quickly voted CHOC by Jazz Magazine, 5 stars by BBC Magazine, and ranked among the ten best albums of the year 2022 by the English magazine MOJO.
All Classical Radio congratulates on-air host Lynnsay Maynard, who is pursuing her passion for social work with a new position. We thank Lynnsay for her time with All Classical and wish her every success in her new role.
We will miss you, Lynnsay!
We look forward to continuing to celebrate the connections between music and literature with special programs coming up this summer. Stay tuned to learn more about our summer highlights, and more exciting radio programming to come in the year ahead.
As always, thank you for listening to All Classical Radio.
For All Classical president and CEO Suzanne Nance, “more is more is more.” So when Nance and her team of 30 full-time employees were presented with an opportunity to move to a bigger, more community-oriented space in downtown Portland, there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation.
In 2024, All Classical will move its headquarters and its services from offices near the Tilikum Crossing in Southeast Portland across the Willamette River to KOIN Tower in downtown Portland. The radio station – which is dedicated to serving a local audience of over 250,000 listeners in Oregon and Southwest Washington as well as an international audience in over 100 countries – will relocate to a 15,000-square-foot office which would include a media arts center, recording studios and gathering spaces for community members. This announcement comes a few months ahead of the nonprofit institution’s 40th anniversary.
